Method of manufacture of lawn-tennis-racket frames



Sept. 29, 1925.

W. C. RASTETTER ,NETHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF LAWN TENNIS RACKET FRAMES Filed June 15. 1923 INVENTOR 24 ATTORNEY Patented Se t. 29,"192 5".

UNITED STATES PATE NT orm-cs.

wmmx c. ms'rarrna, or roar warns, INDIANA-J imrnon or Juno's-scrum: or nnwn-rnnnrs-nacxnr FRAMES.

Application filed Ju'ne 15,1923. Serial m5. 645,570.

To all whom it may coiwern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. RAsTE'r- TER, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen and State. of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Manufacture of- Lawn-Tennis-Racket Frames, of which the following is a specification. g

This invention relates to improvements in method of manufacture of lawn tennis racket frames, and the object thereof is to construct racket frames of bent wood in such manner as will obviate the tendency of the racket frames to warp, and to eliminate the use of racket frame presses that are ordinarily used for retaining tennis rackets in proper condition. A further object of the invention is economy in the manufacture of bent wood tennis racket frames.

These objects of the invention are accomplished bythe construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a tennis racket frame made in accordance with this invention;

F Fig, 2 is a side elevation pro ected from iglv. Q

Fig. .3 is a side elevation of a composite stock from which the frames are made;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the stock upon a reduced scale; and

I Fig. 5'is a-fragmenta viewshowing an elevation'of a modified orm of the invention. J The characters ap caring in the description refer to parts s own inthe drawings and designated thereon by corresponding characters. I

In utilizing the invention a composite stock is first formed of a series of wide sheets of wood 1, 2, 3 and 4 glued together and bent so as to have a cross sectional shape of a tennis racket frame, there being -a are subjected to a steaming process preliminarv to being bent to the desired form, andit frequentlyoccurs that after drying, the frames tend to warp vmore or less out of ous sheets,

shape. In the present instance, however, the sheets of wood are thoroughly dried and are given a preliminary siz'i glue and are subsequently laid together with a binding coat of glue therebetween, and the wooden strata thus arranged are bent lnto the desired shape while the glue. is viscous, the crotch piece 5' and cap sheet 6 being secured in place as the bending operation is completed.

The sheets of which the stock is formed are of much greater breadth tha'n the thickness of a completed frame so that by sawing the stockv in planes indicated by the dotted lines 7 numerous individual frames are made from a single stock. Prior to the sawingoperations the stock is thoroughly dried so that the glue that unites the laminae is set, and as the internal stresses in the varithe sheets from their normal planes, subside durin stock, the ames that are sawed from the stock retain ia fixed shape andfare' not, so

with thin that are occasioned by bending.

the drying operation of the susceptible to warping as the bent vwood Y frames that are made singly-in the usual manner.

In 'the modified form illustrated in Fig.

5, the ends of the innermost-sheet 4' ofthe wooden'strata are brought and securedtogether in the handle portion, and the crotch piece 5 terminates atthe juncture or the ends .of I the sheet instead of continuing throughout the length of the handle portion as in the former instance.

By preparing stock of sufficient widthto I admit of thesawingoperations by which numerous frames are produced-from a sin gle stock,-t-he usual number ofbendiug op-' erations in the quantitative production of,

reduced, as in" the frames is materially present instance, a single bendingand glu ingjoperation suffices for the making of a multiplicity of frames with a-correspondcrotch piece 5 of wood glued mto place,be-

m'g economy, and more stable product as a result,

What I claim is 1. The method of manufacturing lawn tennis racket frames consisting in makinga wide stock of bent wood laminae in the form of aloop and with a crotch piece positioned between the end portions of the laminae dur- 2. In the manufacture of lawn tennis racket frames, the formation of a wide stock composed of bent wooden laminae glued together, the middle portion thereof being shaped into a loop, and a wooden crotchpiece positioned and glued between the end portions of the laminae during the operation of bending the laminae, the stock having a cross sectional shape of a racket frame, and subsequently sawing the stock into numerous narrow portions to form a corresponding multiplicity of complete frames. 1

3. A stock for making lawn tennis racket frames comprised of bent wood laminae and a crotch piece positioned between the end portions of the laminae during the operation of bending the laminae and having the cross sectional shape of a racket frame, and being of sufficient width to admit of making a multiplicity of complete racket frames by sawing the stock into a corresponding number of similar parts.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM G. RASTETTER. 

